“Fractal,” an idea first coined by the American mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1967, refers to the “similarity” existing between the “fragmented shape” and the “holistic shape” of everything. While “fractal” is a mathematical construct, its manifestation, “self-similarity,” can be found widely in nature, e.g. coastlines, floating cloud-flakes, cross sections of rocks, mountain ranges, cerebral cortex, shape of cauliflower and broccoli, galaxies, and the molecule structure of protein. If a person can grasp the essence of the “oneness” of an entity, the person can intuitively understand the “wholeness” of that entity. This is the key philosophical outlook espoused by the 6th scroll of the Avatamsaka Sutra, “in a dust mote there is infinite Buddha lands.” The theory of “holograph,” also called the theory of the “whole-picture,” is offered by the physicist David Bohm and is similar to that of “fractal.” This theory doesn’t aim at the discussion of complexity. Bohm opines that the universe observed under the system of “higher dimensions” is a “holistic unity” which cannot be divided. The universe, however, when observed in the “three dimensions,” becomes an independent entity. This “holographic theory” echoes the philosophical outlook of the 5th scroll of the Avatamsaka Sutra, that is, “ the one is all and the all is one.” This paper aims to explore the philosophical theories of “fractal” and “holograph,” with the teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra as the base. Everything in this universe is subtly connected in a way of “non-duality.”
